Are we posturing or fighting Corruption?

Uganda loses over 10 Trillion Shillings (Over 27 Million US Dollars) per year to corruption according to government sources. This alarming amount only indicates that Uganda is a rich country-we just chose to steal the money that is supposed to deliver services and develop the country. According to Transparency International's 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), Uganda scored 26 and is ranked 141st out of 180 countries and according to World Economics, Uganda's 2024 level of corruption perception stands at 13.5, compared to a global average of 48.4.  These indicate that the fight against corruption has not yet yielded the much-desired results.

One of the 10-point programs of the NRM is the fight against corruption. The NRM Government has been in power for the last 38 years and yet corruption continues to grow bigger and bigger. Where is the missing link? There have been rampant exposes of corruption and cries from the citizens to have the corrupt charged and money recovered. The President has seemingly been emphatic on the fight against corruption but much more is desired. We have had our Members of Parliament and the Speaker sanctioned by the United Kingdom for corruption, and, unfortunately, the Ugandan politicians have laughed it off.

We have also seen politicians telling the electorates in Lwengo that their Member of Parliament is being fought because when she steals, she also brings to her people-which in simple terms, these politicians are endorsing corruption openly. This indicates that there is no willingness to fight corruption as the beneficiaries are the same who are supposed to be fighting it.

There is an ongoing concern over the continued creation of state house units which are supposed to fight corruption. Even when we are still debating the legality of their existence, the duplication of institutions to fight corruption does not help. The State House Anti-Corruption Unit, the State House Revenue Intelligence and Strategic Operations Unit to fight corruption at Uganda Revenue Authority and the State House Investors’ Protection Unit which is supposed to fight bribery and corruption faced by investors. The legality of these units aside, the resources that are pumped into these units would be channelled to the Constitutionally mandated Inspectorate of Government office. The office has always decried limited funding to conversely investigate and prosecute perpetrators of corruption.

Creating parallel units is mere posturing of the fight against corruption. We need to see the government’s commitment to fighting corruption evident by the leadership taking a firm stance and not merely grossing over the issue. We need to see a strengthened Inspectorate of Government, an Executive that takes tough measures against its own members implicated in corruption. It is the duty of the Citizens to combat corruption under Article 17(i) of the Constitution and that they should be protected when they call out the corrupt instead of being threatened, harassed and persecuted. Perhaps we may have to seek legal redress at both national and regional human rights mechanisms to inquire whether these arrests and persecutions based on the Citizens’ fight and expression against corruption are constitutional and that they do not violate any other rights.

As citizens, let us continue exposing the corrupt as it is our constitutional duty and we hope, that the State shall respect all our means to protest and fight corruption.

 

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